Donkey Kong and Mario Kart Racing
Donkey Kong and Mario Kart Racing is a launch title for the Xbox Syndicate and Nintendo Call. It is the tenth main installment in the Mario Kart series, following the mobile game Mario Kart Tour. The game is a collaboration between Copy-Ability-Studios and former Fantendo user BiggestKirbyFanEver1994. Gameplay Gameplay is reminiscent of previous Mario Kart games; players race around in karts, or other vehicles, in order to win races. In Grand Prix, the goal is to finish each race with the highest number of RP (Race Points). Players earn RP according to their finishing position in each race and the top three players with the most RP overall will receive a trophy. Items can also be used to mess with other drivers or help players them advance further in to first place. Quick Race mode allows players to freely race through any Grand Prix course with CPUs. Retro Mode is a new feature that allows players to play through a select number of the game's courses with a 2D style similar to the original Super Mario Kart. Multiplayer here is limited to only up to two players. Players can switch between Nitro Mode or Retro Mode whlie choosing a course in Grand Prix or Quick Race mode. In addition to karts and bikes, a few new vehicle types are introduced to the Mario Kart series: hovercrafts (which can traverse on lava), planes (which can fly over hazzards, mainly piles of Pie goo) and animals (which accelerate automatically). Items A staple of the Mario Kart series is obtaining items and using them on the player or the player's opponents. Items usually play the role of an obstacle that hinders the player. Candies, which have previously only been featured in Mario Party 8, return as special Power-Ups known as Wild Candies, which serve as a major game mechanic. To create a Wild Candy, Mario must eject the Power-Up he is currently using and throw it at another Power-Up. The two will collide and become wrapped in a cocoon with an image, similar to a candy wrapper. Wild Candies are, in general, more powerful than the standard Power-Up and are very useful for defeating tough enemies. There are Wild Candy Blocks that can only be destroyed if Mario has the right Wild Candy in his possession. Base Items Candy Items Turbo Tires Donkey Kong and Mario Kart Racing features Kart customization, a gameplay mechanic first introduced in Mario Kart 7. This time, customization has been significantly reworked to exclusively feature tires. Known as Turbo Tires, these parts have special abilities akin to items. When players drive over an Item Box, the roulette will display the kart parts the player has chosen for their vehicle. and whichever part the roulette stops on is the one players use. Characters As with all entries in the Mario Kart series, the game features numerous characters, each driving unique vehicles that are exclusive to that character. Some characters originate from outside the Mario franchise, like in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. At the start of the game, players can choose from Timber, Bumper, Pipsy, Krunch, Mario, Diddy Kong, Conker and Tiptup, though more characters can be unlocked by meeting certain objectives or by downloading DLC packs. There also reskins of existing characters, known as Echo Racers, that share the same vehicles and Final Smashes as their main counterparts. Default Unlockable Courses Grand Prix Courses Courses in Grand Prix mode are split up across leagues, consisting of at least three cups. The number of courses in each cup varies, instead of having only 4 like in past Mario Kart games. Note: Courses marked with a double asterisk (**) can be played in Retro Mode. T.T's World T.T.'s World is a new mode introduced in the game. It is based on Time Trial mode of the previous Mario Kart games, and is hosted by T.T., the talking stopwatch from Diddy Kong Racing. T.T.'s World features 13 courses exclusive to this mode, though they can be played in Quick Race mode alongside the Grand Prix courses. They are the only courses in the game to not be looped, so when the racer finishes the race, they will simply sit at the end of the course instead of loop around. T.T.'s World is split across five difficulties (Easy, Medium, Hard, Very Hard and Crazy Hard). The goal is to finish the course under a time limit, which gets stricter with each difficulty. Guest Racer Pass The Guest Racer Pass is a permit for Donkey Kong and Mario Kart Racing that allows players to buy a bundle of DLC containing exclusive new characters and Echo Racers as well as courses and items associated with each individual DLC character. The price for the entire bundle is $49.99 in the US. Without this pass, players can buy individual sets containing 1 or 2 characters, 2 cups, and 1 item for $6.99 on the Xbox Arcade store. Without internet, players can buy physical cards for use on the X Change peripheral. Pack 1: Sonic the Hedgehog SpongeBob The first character pack for the game is Guest Racer Pack: Sonic the Hedgehog SpongeBob. It is made to promote Sonic SquarePants. The pack adds Sonic the Hedgehog as an original racer and SpongeBob SquarePants as an Echo Racer for Big Al, and also features race courses based on those that appear in Nicktoons Racing, Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing. Unlike the other guest racer packs, this is one of two that was made exclusively for Donkey Kong and Mario Kart Racing (the other pack being Guest Racer Pack: Steven Universe). Note: Courses marked with (**) can be played in Retro Mode. Pack 2: Steven Universe The second character pack for the game is Guest Racer Pack: Steven Universe. The pack adds to the game Sunstone as an Echo Racer for Funky Kong and Spinel as an original racer. A notable feature of the new courses in this pack is the interference by the Diamonds (Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond and White Diamond), who will use their powers to greatly alter the track and help/hinder the player. Similar to the Guest Racer Pack: Sonic the Hedgehog SpongeBob, this one was made exclusively for Donkey Kong and Mario Kart Racing. Note: Courses marked with (**) can be played in Retro Mode. Pack 3: Tiny and Candy The third character pack for the game is Tiny and Candy. This one is based on Donkey Kong Country Time Travellers and thus adds Tiny Kong and Candy Kong as Echo Racers for Peach and Daisy, respectively. The pack includes race courses with a time travel mechanic, allowing racers to visit the past (or future) of a particular course. The X Change physical release of the pack uses the Donkey Kong Country Time Travellers Extension Pack. Note: Courses marked with (**) can be played in Retro Mode. Pack 4: Pokemon Ben 10 Splash The fourth character pack is based on Pokemon Ben 10 Splash. The pack adds Ripjaws as an Echo Racer for Cheep Cheep in addition to adding courses from Ben 10: Galactic Racing and Pokemon Dash. The X Change physical release of the pack uses the Pokemon Ben 10 Splash Extension Pack. Note: Courses marked with (**) can be played in Retro Mode. Pack 5: Pokemon Ben 10 Crash The fifth character pack is based on Pokemon Ben 10 Splash. The pack adds Shocksquatch as an Echo Racer for Donkey Kong in addition to adding courses from Ben 10: Galactic Racing and Pokemon Dash. The X Change physical release of the pack uses the Pokemon Ben 10 Crash Extension Pack. Note: Courses marked with (**) can be played in Retro Mode. Pack 6: Yoshi Cluster Busters The sixth Guest Racer pack is based on Yoshi's Island and My Life as a Teenage Robot. The pack adds Yoshi and Misty as Echo Racers for Krunch and Ninji, respectively. In addition, the pack features race courses based on the Yoshi and My Life as a Teenage Robot universes. The physical X Change release of the pack uses Yoshi's Island: Donut Style's Yoshi Cluster Busters pack. Note: Courses marked with (**) can be played in Retro Mode. Pack 7: Kirby Fruit Land The seventh and final Guest Racer pack in the game is based on the Kirby franchise. The pack adds Kirby and Gooey as original racers in addition to adding courses based on the Kirby series of games. The X Change physical release of the pack uses Super Mario Land 4: Gotta Catch 'Em All!'s Kirby Fruit Land pack. Note: Courses marked with (**) can be played in Retro Mode. Pre-released and Unused Content Version 1.0 prototype The first prototype of the game included only 30 courses and 7 cups, all of which appear in the final game. In this prototype, DS Yoshi Falls, N64 Mario Raceway and GBA Bowser Castle 4 were respectively codenamed "DS Falls", "N64 Raceway", and "GBA Castle". A new course, "Neo Mushroom Gorge", was planned to be in the game and was to based on the Mario Kart Wii version of Mushroom Gorge. However, it is not actually playable and its name was likely a placeholder title. Prototype Screenshots Trivia * Despite being part of the Mario Kart series, the game is loosely based on Diddy Kong Racing ''(mainly with the inclusion of hovercrafts, airplanes and characters created by Rare) with some elements from its cancelled sequels, ''Diddy Kong Racing Adventure and Donkey Kong Racing. ** In addition, the game also features based on, or inspired by, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, namely the use of Final Smashes and Echo Fighters (which are named Echo Racers). * A majority of the game's new race courses were conceived by BiggestKirbyFanEver1994 for his scrapped Mario Kart fan games over at Video Game Fanon Wiki and Video Game Fan Wiki. * Mario Beach is the only retro course in the game to be featured in T.T.'s World, but not in Grand Prix mode. * Toad and Yoshi do not appear as playable characters, but are represented as Turbo Parts. Their icons are used to represent the Nitro Mode and Retro Mode, respectively. * The front and rear tires resemble FLUDD nozzles. This is because BiggestKirbyFanEver1994 was working on a sequel to Super Mario Sunshine titled Super Mario Attack of the Sunshine, though the former had to be scrapped so other projects could resume development. Category:Fan Games